Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Ranger Cookies

Emily Luchetti never lets me down. When I crack open A Passion for Ice Cream it's usually to make cookies. I'm particularly fond of the pistacio and cocoa nib florentines, as well as the walnut cookies, oat crisps, and brandy snaps. The recipes are simple, straightforward, and consistent. I always get perfect results.

I love eating these. They have all the best qualities of chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies, with a few twists. They're crispy and full of brown sugar flavor without that toothsome over-sugared texture. I used chopped premium organic flaked coconut that I bought from the East End Food Co-op. I liked the bigger pieces, and i'd suggest trying to find the big flakes of unsweetened coconut rather than the fine stuff.

In the book, these ranger cookies are sandwiched with peanut butter ice cream. I prefer them plain with milk or coffee. I'm really looking forward to trying the recipe again with cashews!

To make the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and the granulated and brown sugars until smooth and creamy. Stir in the vanilla extract and the egg. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Stir in the coconut, peanuts, oats, and chocolate chips.

Using about 1 1/2 tablespoonfuls for each cookie, place mounds of the cookie dough 3 inches apart on the prepared sheets. Bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool to room temperature before removing them from the pans with a spatula.

7 comments:

Many many thanks for your AWESOME package!! Totally made my week, not to mention, my day and my month! Adore ALL the treats you've put together - I might even share!!! Many thanks for your generosity and thoughtful-ness!

Just thought I would tell you I have made three batches of these since Tuesday. I had never had them before and they are going over big here! I have done peanuts and tonight was with pecans. Great recipe and fantastic cookies! Thanks!